The three of them, now fully dressed, gathered in the living room. Rias sat on a sofa while enjoying her cup of tea, her legs crossed while Akeno stood behind her.
Sitting opposite was Seiji, now wearing the Kuoh Academy men's uniform, which Rias had kept for some unknown reason. And it was Seiji's perfect size.
"Ah, I needed that. It's been a long night."
Rias snorted in satisfaction.
"It's the first time we've met like this, isn't it? Is it okay to call you Seiji?"
Rias, Akeno and Seiji were third-year classmates at Kuoh Academy. He had also been studying there since Kuoh Academy stopped being an all-girls school. They had inevitably met a few times. However, they had never talked in private like they were doing now.
"I'll come straight to the point, Seiji. We're devils."
The casualness with which it was spoken surprised Seiji, who had been expecting a bit of winding up. It drew a laugh from Akeno, who was watching the conversation. It was the first significant facial change she had seen in Seiji.
Rias took it as Seiji's disbelief.
"Seiji, do you remember the man with wings from last night?"
Dohnaseek, the fallen angel.
"Yes."
"That's a fallen angel. They are former angels who served God, but fell into hell because they had bad intentions. They are also our enemies, the devils."
The slight mention of God caused a painful twinge to run through all three of their heads.
Rias gave an apologetic smile and continued.
"We devils have been at war with the fallen angels since ancient times. We have been fighting for possession of the Underworld, which is also known as Hell in the human world. The Underworld is divided into two areas: that of the devils and that of the fallen angels. The devils make pacts with humans and receive sacrifices from them and increase their strength. The fallen angels, on the other hand, control humans in order to eliminate the devils. Then there are the angels, who come at God's command to destroy these two races, which creates the three forces. This has been going on since ancient times."
Truly like a fantasy world.
That's also why Seiji chose to stay in this world.
Demons, fallen angels, angels, gods and dragons.
In a world with so many different beings... Being on top of them all should be satisfying enough.
"This fallen angel came into contact with Seiji to fulfill a certain objective."
And he had succeeded, in a way.
"Objective?"
"Yes. To kill you."
The statement should have surprised him, but Seiji realized that there had been some misunderstanding.
The fallen angel was not the one who had approached Seiji. Dohnaseek wasn't even supposed to know about him.
It was Seiji who cornered him and forced a fight against the fallen angel.
Purely for his own selfish reasons.
"... Impossible."
Seiji didn't clear up the misunderstanding either. If he did, he would need to explain exactly why he went after a fallen angel and how he knew about the supernatural.
It would take a lot of time and words to explain everything.
Misunderstanding was better.
"The reason he approached you was so that he could check if there was something dangerous inside you. And he must have realized something, since he attacked you at the same moment."
These dangerous things were the Sacred Gears. Abnormal powers that were granted to certain humans. Equipment created by the Biblical God for humanity. Seiji knew them well.
"Most Sacred Gears have functions that are only useful to human society. But there are non-standard Sacred Gears that are a threat to us, the devils and fallen angels. Is there something like that in you, Seiji? Like a special power that you've been able to perceive."
Rias, of course, tried to analyze him. But she got nothing, no signature of a Sacred Gear.
The very katana Seiji was using was made of human material, which only made Rias have more doubts about how he was able to hurt the fallen angel.
Not just hurt...
She saw the outcome of the fight. The way the fallen angel was split vertically in half.
An ordinary sword wouldn't have been able to do that.
This could mean that Seiji didn't have one or that it was incredibly weak. But that wouldn't make sense of the Fallen Angel's attack.
Except that he didn't.
"I think so."
The Celestial System could be considered a special power, even if it wasn't Sacred Gear.
"Can Seiji show me?"
Rias was filled with anticipation.
"It's not something physical. In fact, I still need to find out what it is."
The translucent screen that indicated the amount of CP he possessed was still at his side, but it didn't look like Rias or Akeno would be able to see it.
"Okay... but please tell me as soon as you can. I can even help you with that."
It was a little disappointing, but there was nothing to be done. Rias didn't want to put too much pressure on Seiji, especially when he'd just had a traumatizing experience.
There was no sign of it in his expression, but Seiji always had the same impassive face. Inside, Rias knew he must be in a mess of emotion.
"..."
She was wrong, of course.
"I was summoned to you through this paper."
Rias picked up a pamphlet. A pamphlet identical to the one Seiji had acquired by dubious means.
A pamphlet with a strange magic circle and a slogan that read: 'We grant your wish!'
"This is one of the leaflets we handed out. This magic circle is used to summon us devils. Nowadays there aren't many people who know how to draw a circle to summon us. So we distribute these flyers to people who seem to want to do it. This magic circle is safe and easy to use. You must have picked one up, Seiji. And after you were attacked by that fallen angel, you called me when you were on the verge of death. Your wish was so strong that I was summoned. Normally, my servants like Akeno or one of the others would have been summoned."
It was just like that.
The only person he thought to summon was Rias.
Because she was the only one who could turn him into a devil and make sure he didn't die, as well as acquire magic. Especially magic.
"When I was summoned and saw you, I knew immediately that you had been attacked by a fallen angel. But there was a problem. Not only demons, but also humans die if they are impaled by a fallen angel's spear of light. And you were in an even worse situation, Seiji. So I decided to save your life."
Rias didn't say whether it was because he was in a sorry state or because she saw potential in him, who had defeated a fallen angel when he was human.
"Although as a devil. Seiji, you were reincarnated as a devil of mine, a servant of Rias Gremory. As my devil servant, my knight."
Just then, wings appeared on Rias and Akeno's backs.
They were different from the black wings of a fallen angel; their wings were like bat wings.
And with that, Senji also felt a sensation nagging at his back, but he held on. He knew what would come if he let go.
Wings. Flight.
It would be necessary to include aerial combat in his training.
"Let's introduce ourselves again. Akeno."
Akeno inclined his head politely.
"My name is Himejima Akeno, and we're third-year classmates. I'm also the vice-president of the Occult Research Club. It's nice to meet you. Although I'm like that, I'm also a devil. Ufufu~"
And then Rias, who shook his crimson hair.
"And I am the King of you, as well as a devil of House Gremory, Rias Gremory. My house holds the title of duke. From now on, we'll be together, Seiji."
^*^
Despite wishing to go into reclusion for training, Seiji found himself dragged to class by the devil duo.
For him, it was the first time in his life that he had received so many hateful looks. Usually people looked at him like he was crazy, but these were purely hateful.
Akeno and even Rias seemed to be enjoying themselves. They even pressed themselves into Seiji's arms, provoking even more vigorous reactions from the spectators.
At least two or three people had promised to fight Seiji to the death. One of them sincerely wished for his death.
It was only the sight of the Student Council President approaching that calmed things down and let Seiji pass through the school gate in one piece.
Of course, Akeno and Rias insisted on continuing the act until they reached their class, which caused Seiji to be scrutinized the whole way.
Seiji had his moment of relief when he was finally separated from the provocative duo, purely because he sat far away from their seats. Instead of occupying one of the last tables, he was closer to the middle.
At the next table was Kaichou Souna Shitori.
She kept a long, appraising look on Seiji's face.
She was one of them too. A devil.
Seiji carried on as if it wasn't his problem, until the teacher started the lesson and there were no more eyes on him.
It was then that he finally looked at the holographic screen.
"Celestial System"
[Name: Fujiwara Seiji]
[CP: 20]
[Perks: N / A]
[Powers: N / A]
[Summons: N / A]
[Items: N / A]
⟶ Celestial Roulette
The screen didn't have much information, which should indicate a more intuitive use of the system. His CP - Celestial Point - totaled twenty. Ten of them were awarded for no apparent reason, similar to an initial bonus in games. The other ten came from an achievement, changing his race from Human to Devil.
Completing other achievements was the way to earn more CP.
As there didn't seem to be any list of achievements to be made, Seiji could only work by taking risks with different possibilities.
Apart from the list of currently empty categories, there was only Celestial Roulette left.
When he accessed it, a golden roulette wheel that seemed to take up the entire range of his vision opened up. Seiji looked around, but everyone seemed to be proudly oblivious to the golden roulette wheel. Including the devils, which showed that this phenomenon went beyond common magic.
The only guess as to what to do was to spin the wheel.
When it finished spinning, the roulette wheel disappeared and a new holographic screen opened in its place.
⟶ SCP-005 - 10cp, acquired.
Type: Items.
*In appearance, SCP-005 resembles an ornate key, displaying the characteristics of a typical mass-produced key used in the 1920s. The key was discovered when a civilian used it to infiltrate a high-security facility. SCP-005 seems to have the unique ability to open any and all forms of lock.
The image of a golden key was imprinted in his mind.
A magic key.
Seiji didn't know if 10cp for it was expensive or cheap. But he didn't think to complain or be dissatisfied in any way.
He might have been imagining powers that would turn the world upside down, but he also knew that 10cp should be too little for that.
[CP: 10]
There were still ten points left for him to try again. But with little chance of winning something so significant, Seiji didn't draw again.
Even though the desire to do so was eating him up inside.
Even though there was a chance that he could instantly reach the top of the world if he won the right prize.
No.
Seiji wouldn't choose to rely on shortcuts. Whether it was the strength he built up on his own or the strength he could receive from the Celestial System, it would still be Fujiwara Seiji's strength. However, he wouldn't just wait for one, afraid to work hard.
That wasn't who he was.
Train, learn and fight.
It was like that in his past life and it was the same in this one. There was no reason to change, Celestial System or not.
All Seiji needed now was to find a suitable time to train again.